


hold me a little while

by jamesniall



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickfic, hiatus angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-11-20 23:30:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11345379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamesniall/pseuds/jamesniall
Summary: “Weren’t you just lying down on that sofa, drowning in blankets and choking on sneezes an hour ago?” Harry asks, confused but relieved by Niall’s new found energy.“I was.” Niall says, coming over to Harry and kissing his cheek, “Decided to cook some lunch when I felt like I wasn’t dying anymore. What did you brin-“ He’s interrupted, once again, by a sneeze. And Harry seems to be ready, or used by now, and he takes a step back just so it doesn’t land directly on his face again.-Or, the one where Niall's been sick and sneezing all day and it takes them both longer than it should to figure out Niall's suddenly become allergic to Harry, and the more he wants to help, the worse the situation gets.





	hold me a little while

**Author's Note:**

> hEllo once again! 
> 
> this one's written for a funny and cute prompt i got on tumblr by the sweetest anon, and, this thing took a life of his own and what was gonna be a 3k sick fic became an almost 7k monster of narry hiatus angst with a little bit of sickfic? im sorry if it wasn't exactly what you asked for, lovely beautiful anon, i tried my best.
> 
> this, as well as 90% of my fics, was not beta'ed, so all the mistakes are my own, im sorry.
> 
> hope u guys like this!! if u do, u can let me know by leaving kudos or a bookmark or a comment, no matter which one it is, they mean EVERYTHING to me :')

“Are you sure this isn't like…. ridiculously and unnecessarily expensive?” Niall asks, wiping his mouth with a cloth that looks way too fancy to be just a napkin. He hates Harry’s choices when it comes to restaurants.

“Are you questioning my choices?” 

“I am.” Niall says without missing a beat. “A _casual dinner around the corner_ always turns into a date in the fanciest restaurant with you.” Niall scoffs, kicking Harry’s shin softly under the table. “And I always end up under dressed because you don’t even bother to tell me where we’re going.”

“Sounds like something you shouldn’t be complaining about.” Harry hums with a teasing smile. 

“Haz seriously, why are we doing this tonight, a _Thursday night_ , instead of doing it on Saturday when we should.” 

“Who says dates should only be had on Saturdays?" Harry asks indignantly, chuckling softly when Niall makes a face at him. “Today is just fine. It’s less crowded than how it'd be on a normal Saturday. “ 

“Except next Saturday it's not a normal Saturday,” Niall shrugs, grabbing Harry’s spoon to steal a bite of his dessert, “But I guess you're right...way less crowded than on weekends “

Harry nods and goes back to finishing his dessert, letting Niall steal bits of it when he looks up at Harry with a pout. Their mindless chatter continues until they're up to pay the bill and as Niall passes over Harry's credit card to the young woman behind the counter, Harry asks, without looking up from where he's wiping with his thumb a drop of chocolate that landed on the corner of his jacket. “Hey what did you mean when you said this Saturday is not a normal one? Is there a holiday or something?”

He can feel Niall's stare without looking up at him but he keeps his gaze down on the stubborn stain that refuses to go away. He doesn’t get a reply until the lady says she'll be right back with the receipt and then, with a careful tone Niall asks “Are you joking?”

Harry finally lifts his gaze to look at him to see Niall’s gone a bit tense around the shoulders and his eyes have an intensity in them that makes Harry’s stomach churn. “I’m not?” He hesitates, “Am I missing something? With tomorrow's flight and all of that my mind’s a bit scattered.”

It takes a moment for Niall to reply, apparently trying to decide which one of Harry’s questions he needs to answer first, but when he finally speaks, it’s with a question of his own. “Tomorrow's flight?” He asks, it seems that with every second that passes he gets more worked up and Harry has no clue what is it about.

“The flight to L.A. yeah. Remember I mentioned it the other night? It's to prepare everything for the movie's premiere. I leave tomorrow morning. 8am.” Harry states, and from Niall’s body language it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Stop looking at me like you’re just hearing about it Ni, you're probably the first person I told.”

“ _You_ need to stop looking at me like I’ve lost the plot. You never told me about this. I would remember if you had.” He’s as tense as Harry’s ever seen him. Niall’s not one to get mad by silly things, and Harry briefly wonders where the counter lady is with the receipt so they can leave and Niall can stop looking at him like that.

“Well maybe you just forgot? It doesn’t matter anyway, Ni, it’s just for the weekend. I’ll be back by Monday evening.” Harry says, trying to grab Niall’s hand to calm him down but failing when Niall takes a step back. “It’s a short trip. You won’t even notice I’m gone, babe.”

“Right.” Niall deadpans. “Because I wouldn't notice my boyfriend it's not with me the weekend of our anniversary.”

There’s silence for a long minute. In that minute, the lady comes back with the receipt and excuses herself for taking so long, explains there was a problem with the printer and asks if they’d like to make a reservation for any other special occasion because they look like a lovely couple. Before she can say anything else and twist the knife further inside, Niall interrupts her by thanking her and saying he’s sorry but they have to leave.

Harry stops him not even two steps away from the counter, where no doubt the woman is listening very clearly to their conversation, but at this point it doesn’t even matter to Harry, he just needs to say something to make things alright somehow. “Niall wait, I- it just passed my mind completely. I’m all over the place right now, you know how I get with these kind of things, babe. I’m sorry.” Harry begs, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. “Hey, can you look at me for just a second? I really am so fucking sorry.”

“You just don’t- I can’t believe you.” Niall starts, shaking his head before he finally looks back at Harry, “You know what, I’d get it if you had just forgotten about it because I lose sense of time occasionally. But this isn’t just that, Harry, it isn’t just not realizing the date until it’s a bit too late. Because at some point you had to look at a calendar to book the flight, you must have it written down somewhere. The date and hour and all the details. You were aware the 20th falls next Saturday, you just forgot what it meant for us.” Niall says, breath ragged with a fury that Harry can feel radiating off him. “What the fuck, Harry?” 

“Listen I’m sorry, okay? I really am, but I just can’t- I can’t do anything about it now except apologize and make it up to you when I get back.” Harry says, but Niall just looks away and sighs.

“Let’s just go home. This is not the place to be talking about this.” It’s all he says before he stomps towards the exit and disappears from Harry’s sight. He turns back to look at the woman, who pretends she was wiping down on the counter instead of listening to every word they said, she turns to look at him before he can follow Niall outside and he thinks he sees some sort of accusation in her eyes but before he can think too much of it, she does a little trick with her fingers that’s weird enough to make a shiver go down from the nape of his neck to the small of his back. He just shakes his head and turns to leave.

 

  
-

 

The entire ride home it’s spent in silence except for a bit of sniffling coming from Niall. Harry turns to take a proper look at him when they're at a red light but Niall turns towards the window and wipes his nose with his sleeve. If the air inside the car was less stifling and less tense he'd tell him off about it and Niall would end up making a joke about it all. They'd giggle and hold hands all the way home. Instead, Harry mutters a quiet “there are tissues in the box.” Niall just hums but he doesn’t turn back towards Harry for the rest of the ride.

  

When they get home, Niall seems a bit more relaxed, the line of his shoulders has lost some of the tension and he accepts the hand Harry offers when they get out of the car. When Harry makes it to their bedroom he finds Niall snuggled up in the covers wearing his fluffiest warmest pyjamas, he looks half asleep already.

Harry's about to propose sleeping on the sofa when Niall lifts the covers by his side as an invitation and when Harry only looks at him with wide confused eyes he rolls his eyes and says _come here_ , patting the space next to him on the bed.

Harry does as he’s told, he lies down beside Niall and turns off his bedside lamp. When the room is eerily quiet he decides that maybe they can just let the whole thing go, never bring it up again and instead he’ll just show up on Monday with the biggest bouquet of Niall’s favourite roses and an invitation to that hot dog place that Niall wants to visit since he came back from his promo tour. Every single possible gift goes through his mind, but he surprisingly gets interrupted by Niall whispering the last thing he expected.

“I’m sorry” he says. “I shouldn’t have reacted like that, you just, forgot, I guess.” He says, voice sounding as scratchy as it sounds when he wakes up in the mornings, “And I know how you've been with the entire movie thing, I’ve seen how busy you are and, I don’t know. It’s not a big deal, I guess. As you said, it’s not a long trip so it’s not like you’re leaving an entire month or something. So, yeah. Sorry I overreacted in the middle of a restaurant.”

Harry's a bit speechless for a good minute before he leans in and kisses Niall softly, almost missing his mouth from how dark the room is and the unusual distance between them. “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for.” He says, lips bumping against Niall’s as he speaks, “I love you, and _I’m_ sorry.” He’s just about to deepen the kiss when Niall pulls back harshly and turns to his side opposite to where Harry is and sneezes.

“Jesus Christ,” he mutters. “I need to blow my nose now. How anticlimactic.” He turns on his lamp and kisses Harry’s cheek before he stands up and goes to the bathroom.

“You okay? Think you’re coming down with something?” Harry asks as Niall makes his way back to bed.

“Dunno,” Niall says, his bottom lip jutting out as he scratches his nose again, “I felt funny in the car like, my nose was really itchy but just now I got to sneeze. I don’t feel sick, though, just like, allergic-ish.”

“Allergic-ish.” Harry repeats, a smile blooming on his face, “Come here, you.” He leans in again to kiss Niall. Only to be interrupted once more by a strong sneeze.

“Fucking shit.” Niall mumbles again.

“Alright, I think you are coming down with something, love. Gotta rest and stay warm and hydrated so you’re all better when I get back and we have the best anniversary ever.” Harry says, kissing Niall’s forehead and tucking him in again, blankets up until they reach Niall’s nose and he looks like a sleepy baby bear. Harry gives him another wet noisy kiss on the tip of his nose just because he looks adorable.

Just before Harry’s about to close his eyes he whispers, “are we good, Ni?”

“We are.” Niall replies, and even though he sounds more asleep than awake, Harry believes him.

 

 

-

 

 

The next morning Niall wakes up feeling like there’s a pile of bricks right on his chest. His nose feels stuffy and his throat is dry. He doesn’t have a headache, but he can feel the morning light even through his closed eyelids so he can already feel it’s coming.

He groans as he stretches out, arm moving towards Harry’s side to find it empty and cold. He checks the clock to see it’s just barely 7am.

“Oh, you’re awake. I tried to be as silent as possible so you could have your beauty sleep.” Harry says, a towel hanging loosely on his hips and another wrapped around his hair. It’s still quite short, but Niall guesses the habit it’s still there despite being almost a year since he cut his hair for good.

“You didn’t wake me up I think.” Niall says, and his voice sounds as wrecked as his throat feels. “Fuck.”

“That doesn’t sound too good.” Harry tuts, coming closer to Niall and pressing a hand down his forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever though, probably just a cold.”

“Feel like shit,” Niall croaks, “At what time do we have to leave?”

“You sound like shit.” Harry says, he’s smiling but there’s that concerned frown all over his face that Niall hates. “And what do you mean _we_ , you’re not moving from this bed until you’re all better. I already called a cab, I have ten minutes to get ready.”

“I wanted to take you to the airport, though.” Niall says with a pout.

“Not gonna happen. You’re gonna get all better for when I come back.”

“Right.” Niall sighs, feeling sleepy once again and cuddling back into the mess of blankets.

“Right.” Harry repeats, leaning in and giving a peck to Niall’s lips. Niall almost sneezes on Harry’s face. “Go back to sleep, babe. I’ll text you as soon as I land.”

“Have a safe flight.” Niall mutters, struggling to keep in another sneeze. “Love you.”

“Take care, alright? I love you too.” Harry says, he leans forward to give Niall’s forehead one last kiss but this time luck it’s not on his side and as soon as he gets close to Niall’s face, he sneezes.

Niall can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of him when he sees Harry’s face.

 

-

 

Niall falls back asleep as soon as the front door closes softly. He wakes up about five hours later with his head clear, his throat no longer hurting and his nose not as stuffy and for a moment he has to think if the entire sickness was a dream.

After tidying up the bed and choosing the comfiest clothes he takes a bath and when he’s done he feels like a new person. He texts Harry to let him know he’s alright, even though he still has another ten hours inside the plane.

_hey pet ! just letting u know Im feelin loads better now . sleepin def helped. Gona have something for breakfast….more like lunch Haha. Call me when u land . Love U!_

The day passes slowly. He’s been coped up inside the studio the past three weeks, and being at home now, despite being comforting, doesn’t relax him as it usually does. Harry’s not there with a warm cup of tea, not there to watch a bit of telly, even if Niall’s the only one who pays attention because Harry always ends up playing with Niall’s hair. He feels unsettled. Like he used to feel after coming home from months of touring to an empty bed and an even emptier fridge. Harry’s not there to fill up the spaces that make Niall feel so wrong.

It’s not even co-dependency, he thinks. Not when they’re also used to being away from each other for months since the hiatus started. It’s probably the fact that the loneliness it’s unexpected.

He usually knows weeks beforehand about Harry’s trips and commitments, even more so if they are in another fucking continent, so he’s always ready for when he must spend a couple weeks alone in their home.

This time, though, it’s not quite like that. And he still feels a sour taste in his mouth when he thinks of Harry’s shocked face the night before. Because the surprise was so clear in his face Niall doubts he even remembered it was their anniversary month. Forgetting the date, he can understand, it has happened two times before, but those two times Harry didn’t fail to mention it at least once since the month had started. He went around telling Niall about how excited he was to do this or that on their day, then the day before asking if Niall had any plans the next day and Niall laughing because _you’ve been talking about our anniversary since the 1 st and now you forget. _

It was cute, both times, to see Harry blushing and apologizing and Niall kissing him until he was too breathless to say sorry one more time.

Now though, it’s nothing like that.

Harry was away at the beginning of the month, off in L.A. for album promo, when he came back Niall was the one with album stuff to do, and even though they had lunch together and Niall always came home early enough to cook dinner and eat together, the topic never passed Harry’s mouth once and Niall’s attempts apparently weren’t enough for him to remember.

He doesn’t realize he’s been standing in the middle of the kitchen for who knows how long, lost in his own thoughts and clutching his phone so tightly his fingers are numb.

He shakes his head, finishes wiping the counter and goes to the living room to check if Harry has texted already.

He has one message and with a smile he goes to open it only to realize it’s from Louis.

_Hey Lad! Heard your boy is over this side of the pond…mind coming for a visit?_

_You’ll have t ask him if he has the time to go over !_ Niall replies, trying not to sound bitter even though it’s just a text.

 _What ya mean? You’re not with him?_ Louis texts back.

_nope, still here in the cold summer of London Haha_

_Thought he might invite you, mate, isn’t it like ur anniv in the next couple of days?_

And that’s – Niall has to stop and think about that one.

It didn’t pass Niall’s mind that Harry could have invited him.

_Nah, it’s alright ! it is this sat but he didn’t remember. Busy with movie stuff. We’ll celebrate when hes back I guess._

_Ooooh…..not gonna get into ur celebration plans then… I’ll give him a smack in the head if I see him. Gimme a call when youre over! Freddie misses his fave uncle_

That makes Niall smile, warmth spreading all over him, he thinks it’s the first genuine, positive emotion he’s felt since last night.

He spends the day and the next cleaning around the house, picking up stray pieces of paper from Harry’s failed lyrics, collecting all the guitar picks that are scattered all over the house, he even finds one on top of the washing machine and the memory of that morning when Niall was doing laundry and Harry offered to help but ended up pressing Niall down on it and sucked him off until he came, wiping up his face with the dirty laundry.

He misses him so much.

By the time he goes back to bed his mood hasn’t gotten any better. The fact that Harry didn’t text him more than a _made it to Ben’s house about two hours ago. Love you x_ didn’t help at all.

He’s angry at himself, mostly. For not having talked about it before Harry left. About how he needed to tell Niall these things. About how much it hurts that Harry forgot their special day, but he’s angry because it’s not that big of a deal.

At least, after six years of celebrating it on the right day it shouldn’t be. But Niall can’t help the sadness he feels on Saturday morning when he wakes up to an empty bed. A too quiet kitchen compared to last year when Harry woke him up with his favourite song at the moment as he danced around the kitchen cooking Niall’s favorite breakfast dish. The house is too empty, compared to two years ago, when the boys invited themselves over and decorated the house while they were asleep. Then proceeded to wake them up by jumping around the bed and startling them so bad Harry fell face first off the bed, his bare ass in full view to everyone in the room.

He’s hurt more than angry, though.

Hurt over the fact that Harry didn’t even invite him over, or at least suggested it, the thought hasn’t left his mind since Louis texted him about it the day before. Even though he knows it was mostly a business trip and everything was probably set weeks before hand. Hurt because at midnight, L.A. time, he texted Harry the sappiest anniversary text and it stayed unread for 7 hours until Harry finally texted back a disappointing _‘done with a meeting and going to another. Sorry I cant reply properly, love you. Happy anniversary!!!’_

His proper reply came almost on Sunday. At 11:56 of the 20th to be exact, with no other text before that. No pictures. Nothing.

He doesn’t find it in himself to reply, so he just drinks a cup of tea and goes to sleep.

 

-

 

They text randomly during the next couple of days, and when Monday finally comes around Niall doesn’t even remember his cold, having felt completely good, physically at least, for the last four days. He goes to pick Harry up from the airport and since it’s a private waiting room as soon as Harry’s out of his gate he all but runs towards Niall and spins around with Niall in his arms, giggling and kissing all over the skin he can reach.

“Missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, pet. Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary. You don’t even know how much I love you.” He says, smothering him with kisses and love bites all over.

 

They go home just for Harry to shower and change. Harry invites him to his favourite restaurant in London and they have lunch and the tastiest dessert Niall’s ever had before. When they are finally home Harry kisses and undresses him with both gentleness and an urgency that’s palpable in the air.

 

Niall wakes up feeling, again, like a truck hit him in the middle of the night and it’s still lying on top of him the next morning. It’s not as bad as last time but it still puts a damper on their plans.

Harry insists on Niall staying home and resting, so they spend the day watching movies and series on Netflix, eating leftovers and kissing until their lips are numb. Niall keeps sneezing the entire day and he feels progressively worse as the day passes. By the next morning, when Niall wakes up feeling worse Harry makes him soup and leaves him with a good cup of warm tea as he goes out to find some medicine for Niall.

As soon as Harry leaves the house, though Niall sneezes one more time and afterwards his nose feels clearer than it has felt in what feels like years. He feels well enough to cook something for lunch because he’ll not survive an entire day with just soup.

Harry comes back about an hour later, only to find him in the kitchen, bobbing his head to an upbeat song from the radio and looking nothing like the ill Niall he left on the couch just an hour prior.

“Weren’t you just lying down on that sofa, drowning in blankets and choking on sneezes an hour ago?” Harry asks, confused but relieved by Niall’s new found energy.

“I was.” Niall says, coming over to Harry and kissing his cheek, “Decided to cook some lunch when I felt like I wasn’t dying anymore. What did you brin-“ He’s interrupted, once again, by a sneeze. And Harry seems to be ready, or used by now, and he takes a step back just so it doesn’t land directly on his face again.

“Yeah, I don’t think you’re at your 100% just yet.” Harry says, getting out of a bag a package of tissues he got. When he takes a step forward so he can pass them to Niall, though, a second sneeze surprises them both and leaves spit all over Harry’s cheek and neck. “They were selling 4 packages for the price of 2, and I thought that’d be more than enough to last us a year but at the rate you’re going you’re gonna run out of those and end up without a nose in an hour, at most.”

“Shut up,” Niall moans, blowing his nose once again. A frustrated frown all over his forehead. “My headache’s back.”

“Go lay down again, babe. You can't over exert yourself just because you’re feeling a bit better.”

“It wasn’t just a bit, though. I felt as if I’d never been sick in the first place.” Niall scoffs, going back to the living room but returning a couple seconds after with the heaviest blanket draped all over his shoulders and covering half of his face. “I swear, Harry. As soon as you closed the fucking door and left I felt better again.”

“Hey,” Harry frowns, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Fuck, no-“ he sighs, sitting on the counter stool and wrapping himself tighter in the blanket. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way, Haz. Just, it’s weird.” He starts, “It’s not the first time it happens. When you left to L.A. I woke up feeling as if I had dreamed the entire sickness.” He huffs, “If it didn’t sound so crazy I’d say it’s like I’m suddenly allergic to you.”

“So, you were perfectly fine and when I came back you’re…miserable again. Is that what’s happening?” Harry asks.

“This is so fucked up.” Niall grumbles, scrubbing harshly at his nose, which has gone all red from all the blowing. “I am absolutely not saying it’s your fault, it’s just, so weird. But, yeah, I guess, every time I’m not around you I stop sneezing and coughing, I don’t fucking get it.”

“Jeff gave me a new lotion back in L.A., like, as a very late birthday present.” Harry recalls, “Do you think that maybe you’re allergic to it? I put it on this morning after I showered.”

Niall it’s too tired to think of anything else. And, anyway, the lotion explanation seems to make sense, somehow. So Harry goes to take a shower and doesn’t put it on again, yet Niall’s symptoms seem to get worse as the hours pass and when they go to bed Niall gets teary after he sneezes, just thinking about blowing his nose one more time.

Harry comforts him by cuddling him from behind, pressing kisses over his clammy pale skin and massaging his shoulders and back. Niall starts shivering and fidgeting after a few minutes of Harry pressing his fingers over the tense spots and when Harry asks him if anything is bothering him he just whines out a pitiful “everything itches.”

Harry sits up to turn on the light and it’s horrified to find Niall’s back all blotchy red, it looks sore and really really itchy, “Babe, your back-”

Since Niall doesn’t have the energy to stand up and look at himself in the mirror, Harry takes a photo on his phone and shows it to Niall, who just groans and tries to scratch himself against the sheets. “It looks and feels like a really bad case of chicken pox,” Niall whimpers, “Only I already had that when I was like three and as far as I know, it should not happen again.”

“No, you’re right. It can’t be that, but, then what is it? It looks like a rash caused by a really shitty allergic reaction.” Harry says, threading his fingers through Niall’s hair to soothe him a bit. He looks so sick, now that Harry can look at him with proper lightning, since Niall insisted on keeping the house as dark as possible since his head was killing him. His nose is red and sore-looking, the skin around it hot and tender to the touch, he’s pale all over, except his back, where the red spots look angry and itchy. He’s also still sneezing and, by default, coughing. His voice sounds weak every time he complains about how itchy and sore everything is. “Have you eaten anything weird, babe? Something new you had? A new shampoo? New soap? Are you still a new laundry detergent?”

Niall, weakly, says no to all of Harry’s questions.

That night, Niall sleeps fitfully. Torn between wanting to stay still because of his headache but antsy and desperate because the itching on his back was unstoppable. Despite everything Harry did to try and sooth the itch a little, it never eased, and Niall just wanted to cry every time he sneezed. He could feel the skin around his nose already peeling off.

 

Harry wakes up the next morning to an empty bed. He jumps out and for once doesn’t flinch away the cold tiles, he runs downstairs and finds Niall curled up on the couch. He doesn’t look too comfortable, but at least he’s still and sleeping. Harry decides to start on breakfast as quietly as possible.

As the eggs are cooking and Niall’s tea is almost done, he starts retracing their steps to figure out what is it that’s causing Niall’s sudden and strange illness and when everything is done and looks pretty on each plate, he has half a theory, crazy and completely irrational but that could somehow explain the entire situation.

He goes to check on Niall and finds him stretching out on the sofa. He looks adorable despite how sick he actually is and Harry goes over and kisses him softly on his forehead. Niall sneezes and rubs his forehead when Harry pulls away. “Didn’t you shave, like, yesterday?” Niall asks with a hoarse voice, “that kiss was itchy.”

Harry hums. Deciding that maybe his crazy theory might not be as crazy after all.

“I did shave yesterday, babe.” Harry affirms, helping Niall up to a sitting position and passing over their breakfast, “I need you to hear me out.”

“What is it, pet?”

“I came up with something that might explain why you’re so sick.” Harry starts, uncertainty clear in his voice. “I think we’re going through some sort of Freaky Friday situation.”

Niall smiles small at him, not judging him at all but actually doing all the opposite, “I need to hear more of this, Haz, continue.”

“Alright, so. You remember our date last Thursday, right?” Harry asks, continuing when Niall nods, “Well, after you left to the car, I turned to say goodbye to the lady in the counter, you know, to say thanks and maybe apologize for, causing _that_ in the middle of the restaurant. But when I looked at her, she was like, judging me, I don’t know. It felt really wrong, it still creeps me out. She even did some weird thing with her fingers and it made me shiver so bad it still gives me a bad vibe just thinking about it.” Harry explains.

“What I’m saying is, remember how in the movie the mom and the daughter fight at a restaurant and the grandma who works there overhears their fight and, like, does that thing and they swap bodies until they fixed things properly?” Harry says, eyes wide and set on Niall as he seemed to process all of that. “What if some sort of thing like that is happening to us? She definitely did something. Every minute I’m close to you you’re sneezing non-stop. Wherever I kiss you or touch you for too long gets itchy. Then I leave and you’re all better again? You’re quite literally allergic to me, Ni.”

Niall turns to look at him for a moment. Eyes wide and mouth set in a line, he’s not frowning, but he’s also not laughing and he stays perfectly still as he thinks over Harry’s words.

“That- that makes a lot of sense, actually.”

Harry smiles, glad that they finally found the cause, but it fades quickly when Niall sneezes again and cries out as he blows his nose once more.

“What’s the plan, then?” Niall asks, breathing deeply to hold back another sneeze.

“We need to go back to the restaurant, find that woman and tell her to get things back to normal again.” Harry states, taking Niall’s hand in both of his and squeezing, “then you’ll feel all better again and we’ll kiss and touch without you hurting.”

“Sounds good,” Niall mumbles, wincing and squeezing Harry’s hands as he sneezes again. “Let’s leave like right now, I can’t leave like this anymore.”

 

-

 

They are lucky to find the same woman on the counter again. She notices Niall first and her eyes go wide, Harry thinks it’s hard not to, with how pale he is and his nose so red he rivals Rudolph’s. She looks guilty as hell, and that’s all the confirmation they need to know she’s the one that caused all of this.

“You know why we’re here,” Harry says, an edge in his voice that’s hard to miss. “We’re not gonna discuss how fucked up what you did is. We just want you to revert this, spell, thing, whatever it was you did, and make things go back to normal again, right now.”

She looks at both of them for a moment, down at where they’re holding hands despite the redness all over Niall’s fingers. She looks back at Niall, then gives Harry a long, unapologetic look and finally says, “It’s not in my hands to revert the spell, that’s your job now.”

“What does that mean?” Niall says, Harry has a feeling he had the intention to make it sound louder, but his voice, as scratchy as it is, it’s not more than a harsh whisper. “You did this. You make me feel sick every time Harry so much as breathed in the same room as me. You have to know how to break the fucking spell.”

“Oh, it’s not that I don’t know how to. It’s that it’s you the ones who have to do it.”

“Then tell us how to,” Harry says, trying not to sound as desperate as he feels. Niall sneezes again, the sound he makes pitiful and pained, he looks so poorly the woman seems to have some mercy on him and starts speaking.

“Whatever it is that led to this, that’s what you have to fix.” She says, “When that truly happens. When the apologies are not half hearted. When the walls are down and the heart it’s open. If it’s done just to get it out of the way, then you guys can’t be helped.” She disappears inside a small office before any of them can ask any questions.

 

-

 

When they get back home the silence is heavy and tense. None of them want to start, because none of them know where to start. But when Niall is overcome by another sneeze that rattles his entire body, Harry decides he needs to put an end on this. It was mostly his fault after all.

“I- I’m. I suppose this is not about the forgotten anniversary, right?” Harry ponders, continuing when Niall nods and turns to look at him properly from where they are sat on the sofa. Close but not quite touching.

“I reckon it goes way deeper than that.” Niall croaks out.

“I’m sorry.” Harry says. Two small words, seven letters that carry so much weight and meaning in them. “I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately.” Harry says, laughing softly and shaking his head, “not for the right reasons, though.” He clears his throat, twists a ring on his middle finger before he goes on. “I’m sorry I forgot, I really am. But I’m mostly sorry about the reasons why I forgot.

“I’m sorry these past few months I’ve paid more attention to the movie and the album than to you. I’m sorry I never make much of an effort to see you more often. I’m sorry you’re the one who’s always planning dates and arranging your schedule so we can have lunch together and cook dinner at home. I’m sorry I never type down my commitments in the thing you have glued to the fridge so we’re both aware of what the other is doing.” Harry says, taking a breath before he keeps speaking. “I’m sorry I’m so bad at texting back.” He says, making Niall laugh quietly.

“I’ve been a shitty boyfriend since the hiatus started. It’s like- I’m so used, I _was_ so used to how it was, seeing you for breakfast, lunch and dinner, sharing hotel rooms and sleeping in the same bunk on the bus. Finding time to mess around in dressing rooms and sharing the stage with you every night for months on end.”

He sighs, “I think I ended up taking you and all the time we used to spend together for granted. And that’s the worst thing I could’ve ever done. Especially now, when things are so different and we’re doing the same but differently and separately while we’re still together. It’s just, been hard to leave the band behind and focus on you and I, focus on my career and focus on yours, on supporting you but also trying to do my best to do well out there, keeping up with the others, it’s so much to do, compared to how easy it was before.” Harry breathes out, reaching out and taking Niall’s fidgety fingers in one of his hands. “It’s something we should have talked about way sooner, because it finally caught up with us and now we’re hurting, _you’re_ hurting, and I hate it.”

“Haz,” Niall starts, a breathless laugh coming out along with a sneeze. “I love you.” He says, his gaze fixed intently on Harry’s face, fingers intertwined together in Harry’s lap. “I love you. And I want to make it clear that it isn’t your fault I’m sick. And it isn’t your fault you forgot, it isn’t your fault it all came to this. Because as much as you had part on it, so did I.” Niall assures him, fingers rubbing Harry’s hand, despite how itchy it all feels, “I stayed silent and I stayed away when I should have done or said something. Whenever you left to do whatever thing I preferred to say silent, even if it hurt me and even if it frustrated me, I never said anything, and that’s as unhelpful and damaging as anything else you said or did.

“I just, pretended I was fine about your constant flights back and forth and I pretended not because I didn’t care enough but because I wanted us to be alright. And, somehow, I thought that if I kept pretending, if I kept my mouth shut and my arms open for whenever you decided to come back home, we’d be.” He says, shaking his head, “yet here we are.”

“Here we are,” Harry nods. A small smile playing on his lips.

“I don’t want us to get to this point ever again,” Niall states as seriously as he can while trying to cough and sniffle. “Not only me getting enchanted by whoever that woman was.” He says, “I don’t want us to get back to a point where we think we’re alright when we both know we’re not. This bad communication and this pretending will never be any good, so let’s just. Let’s be honest. I’m gonna tell you whenever I feel like L.A. and Jeff and Ben are getting more of your time than I am. And you’re gonna tell me when you’re struggling to balance everything out.” Niall continues. “I love you with my life and I’m not willing to let a hiatus, a moment where we’re supposed to have more time and freedom, get in the way of that love.”

Harry’s a bit teary when Niall’s done. And he doesn’t think twice before he’s grabbing Niall and pulling him on his lap, both arms around his waist and his face pressed to his neck. “I love you. And I promise we’ll be alright.”

 

They go to bed to cuddle and love on each other more comfortably than in the couch, despite the fact that Niall’s still sniffling and sneezing every now and then, it’s not as frequent as it’s been the last few days, his head isn’t hurting anymore and the warmth coming from Harry’s body is more comforting than itchy and stifling. He sleeps easily, dreamless but peaceful, and he knows he’ll wake up just fine the next morning.

**Author's Note:**

> soooo, there's that.
> 
> i really hope u guys have liked that and enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed writing it. i had so much fun with this prompt.
> 
> if u want to send me some more, or just want to go and say hi on tumblr, im also [jamesniall](jamesniall.tumblr.com) over there.
> 
> i love u guys.


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